An anonymous commenter responded to my post here, with at least one question that I answered here. And yet he or she claims I'm dodging the points he or she has made.
So let me address them below:
1. Anonymous claimed that the sexual scandal in the Church is over. This was the point I responded to in my follow up post: It most emphatically is not. Bishops are still enabling sex abuse, and getting indignant when the press or the courts point this out.
2. Anonymous takes issue with the number of pedophile priests that are or have been active in the Church (reports range from 4 to 10%). But the number of abusers is not the point. The point is how the bishops continue to enable such abuse. Even if the number is half what Pope Francis suggests - i.e., only 1% - the point is not that number. The point is what should be done once a crime against a child is committed. This is what can easily be fixed, and this is what the bishops in their "knavish imbecility" continue to avoid fixing.
3. Anonymous is playing around with numbers from the John Jay Report. He or she seems to think that the only relevant number is the number of priests convicted of abuse in the court system. No one in the Church, not even the most untrustworthy bishop, would ever suggest that the number of priests who are criminally charged, much less convicted, is anything but the tiniest fraction of the number of priests who have actually abused children.
4. Anonymous seems to think I am claiming that the problem is more prevalent now than it was in the 1970's. It's certainly not as bad as it was then, and I don't know how he or she got the idea I was claiming that it is.
5. Anonymous argues that SNAP is not a reliable source for information about the abuse crisis. SNAP certainly has a vested interest in this issue, but if Anonymous thinks they're lying or fudging when it comes to the evidence, such as the documentary evidence released by dioceses, law firms and courts all over the country and readily available on the internet, he or she should compare the original source documents with what SNAP claims. Don't believe SNAP? Don't believe the New York Times or bishopaccountability.org? Fine. Check out the Graves Report in Kansas City, the source documents in St. Paul, the documents regarding the St. Louis cases, etc. Do a little Googling and you'll find them. You don't need a filter any more; you don't need a middle man. This is the internet. Go straight to the source and find the truth. I have, and it's very disturbing.
So, dear Anonymous, if you would like to comment further, please comment with a name - even a screen handle, so that we can at least refer to you as someone other than "Anonymous".
And please understand that the truth of this is the truth that will set us free. The tribalistic lie that this really isn't a problem, it's only the enemies of the Church who are making it so, is a lie that will only make things worse. If we are Christians, we must love the truth - even the disturbing truth about our own sinfulness, and even if that means shining the light of Christ into the ugly dark corners of our chancery offices.
Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. - the words of Jesus from John 3:19-21.
In other words, don't fear the light. It's the only thing that can overcome the darkness.
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